>> Saturday, July 29, 2017

LAOAG CITY -- Ilocos
Norte Gov. Imee R. Marcos, speaking out regarding the House of Representatives'
ongoing investigation into the province's alleged misuse of tobacco funds, said
original documents of the transactions involved were taken from the Commission
on Audit office inside the Provincial Capitol by personnel of 1st District
Rep. Rodolfo "Rudy" C. Fariñas.

Fariñas,
known as the main political rival of Marcos in Ilocos Norte, initiated the
inquiry through House Resolution No. 882.

While he
had campaigned and won alongside Marcos in 2010, he was removed from the
latter's "One Ilocos Norte" bid in 2013.

He was also
present during the 2011 and 2012 distributions of the vehicles purchased using
the province's tobacco funds.

The subject
of lost original documents surfaced in the third House hearing into the tobacco
fund issue last May 29, when six employees of the Provincial Government of
Ilocos Norte were cited in contempt and detained for "refusing to answer
questions."

The
employees, dubbed "Ilocos Six," had requested to see the original
documents before testifying, lest they commit perjury by giving sworn
statements based on possible falsified photocopied documents.

Fariñas
had implied it was the provincial
employees who had the documents lost.

As of
today, the Ilocos 6 are still detained at the House office of the
sergeant-at-arms. They have been held for 49 days or seven weeks.

Legal
counsels of the Ilocos 6have pursued legal remedies such as petitioning for the
writ of habeas corpus and their provisional release, which were granted by the
Court of Appeals, but thrice the House has defied the court order.

The House
issued a show-cause order against the CA justices who ordered the release, but
they recently withdrew this in place of a motion for inhibition.

Ang
pangalawa ay tinatawag nating prohibition program. Hinihinigi natin
dito na pigilan ang hindi makatarungang pag-conduct ng kanilang
imbestigasyon," saying that the House's manner of investigation
"violates the Constitution in their own House Rules, and so far it's being
conducted as a form of Inquisition."